Lowry didn't go in that direction himself, but to learn what's not for you can be as important as learning what is.
Not that he was averse to giving direction himself: given authority to order the engineer to stop if he thought of a particularly striking scene or composition, he did just that while riding a mile long freight train in Nevada.
It's not such a stretch to seek affinities between Miles and India: as one of the chief proponents of modal improvisation in jazz, he occasionally reached in that direction himself.
Sometimes the notes really do read like honest exhortations to himself; other times, like stage directions to himself to look exhorted.
His notes, typed on long legal sheets, often with urgent directions to himself in capital letters, fill his cabinets, and before he begins writing, he indexes the relevant files in big loose-leaf notebooks that resemble the ones behind the counter at auto-parts stores.
Kohlschreiber seems to have thrown Murray off course with an evasive drop shot, but the Scot somehow stops himself from veering off in the wrong direction, adjusting himself to slash a forehand down the line to earn a break point, which he accepts when Kohlschreiber hits a forehand wide.
Here he had found this new direction, for himself and for his team.
City Room headed in that direction, introduced himself to Mr. Sondheim and asked about his legendary treasure hunts.
Jackie Chan furthered the playfulness of Bruce Lee by making his dustups play like slapstick; Mr. Li goes in the other direction, giving himself an otherworldly and oversensitized earnestness.
